Friday, July 9, 2021

MeTV’s Plethora of Medical Ads

Recently, I’ve spent several weeks in a hospital rehabilitating after suffering a stroke (still here as of this posting). I watched a lot of daytime television and all I can say is thank goodness for cable TV.

Two years ago, a friend told me about about MeTV (Saturday nights on the locaI ABC affiliate). She told me about “Svengoolie,” a weird character who hosted a two-hour show on Saturday night. His shtick is classic ‘50s-‘70s horror, monster, and sci-fi movies.


That made me a mini-MeTV fan. Then, while lying on my back in the hospital, I discovered the 24-hour MeTV Channel ‘way down among the triple-digit cable channels. Series galore! Westerns (e.g., “Gunsmoke”), detective (e.g., “Mannix”), crime (e.g., “In the Heat of the Night), comedies (e.g., “Leave It to Beaver”), varieties (e.g., “The Carol Burnett Show”), and more.


It took me back to my high school and college days. Save for live Los Angeles Dodgers games, it’s my in-room channel exclusively.


One thing surprised me — there are lots of pharmaceutical television commercials throughout the day. My conclusion: The pharmaceutical companies are catering to people more or less my age, who remember but haven’t watched these shows in years. And we are most likely to be affected by the medical problems that can be treated with the products.


With little to do, I took notes. I had heard of two; maybe you are familiar with more:

  • Austedo (Deutetrabenazine): Unintentional movements
  • Enbrel (Etanercept): Auto-immune diseases
  • Entresto (Sacubitril /Valsartan): Heart failure
  • Farxiga (Dapagliflozin): Type 2 diabetes
  • Fasenra (Benralizumab): Asthma
  • Jardiance (Empagliflozin): Type 2 diabetes
  • Lynzess (Linaclotide): Constipation
  • Neuriva (Phosphatidylserine): Brain supplement
  • Nucala (Mepolizumab): Severe asthma
  • Rybelsus (Semaglutide): Type 2 diabetes
  • Skyrizi (Risankizumab): Psoriasis 
  • Tepezza (Teprotumumab): Thyroid eye disease

I feel so much smarter now. Do you?


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